New Jersey Commits To 3.5 Gigawatts Of Offshore Wind By 2030, Ørsted To Build Atlantic City Office

Speaking to more than 750 offshore wind industry experts from around the world at the annual International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, New Jersey State Senate President Steve Sweeney, and representatives from offshore wind energy giant Ørsted committed to building the country’s largest offshore wind project.

Speaking at the International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum being held in New Jersey this week, New Jersey officials doubled down on Governor Murphy’s ambitious goal of securing 3,500 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind energy generation by 2030, which was affirmed in an Executive Order that the governor signed earlier this year (PDF).

“As a coastal state, offshore wind is a matter of common sense,” Governor Murphy told the Forum. “It’s a complete no-brainer.”

“New Jersey has joined the fight against global climate change,” Governor Murphy continued. “For us, this is more than just energy. It’s also about the economy. It can lead this state to long term economic stability.”

“Governor Murphy is a leader in both energy and environmental growth,” said Liz Burdock, the Executive Director of the Business Network for Offshore Wind, in response to the Governor’s commitments.

“Offshore wind industry experts from the US and Europe are here to discuss the latest technological advances in offshore wind, specifically designed to help Governor Murphy and other Governors who want to expand their economy, generate jobs and protect the environment. It is evident that we are taking both the lessons learned and the technological advances from Europe and applying them to our market. Offshore wind will no longer be considered an expensive, elusive, European industry, it will be fully embraced by the US as an economic engine and an important element of the US energy mix.”

The New Jersey Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has two proposed offshore wind lease areas totaling 537 square miles off the coast of New Jersey, 250 square miles of which would include the proposed offshore wind project Ocean Wind, being developed by Danish offshore wind energy leader Ørsted, which also announced at the Forum that it would be opening an office in Atlantic City in May, and would begin local hiring soon thereafter.

Block Island, America’s first and only offshore wind farm

“New Jersey welcomes Ørsted’s choice to grow in New Jersey, a decision that will help create clean energy jobs in the state,” Governor Murphy said. “My administration is committed to building a green economy in New Jersey and it is through investments from companies like Ørsted that this vision will become a reality.”

The Ocean Wind offshore wind project being proposed by Ørsted would be located 10 miles off the New Jersey coast and could yield a capacity of as much as 1,000 MW, which is enough to power half a million New Jersey homes and businesses.

“We are pleased that Governor Murphy has pledged his commitment to bring offshore wind to New Jersey,” said Thomas Brostrøm, President, Ørsted North America. “Our Ocean Wind project will contribute greatly to helping the Governor achieve this goal. This latest step comes on the heels of our work undertaking geophysical surveys of the leased windfarm area to determine characteristics of the site, so that we can continue developing this project and make it a reality.”

The recent few weeks have been momentous for the United States’ offshore wind energy industry, thanks in large part to work being done there by Ørsted.

In the middle of March, Ørsted, along with Eversource, New England’s premier transmission builder, confirmed that their 50-50 joint-venture Bay State Wind was moving forward to develop an 800 MW offshore wind farm by the same name off the coast of Massachusetts. The move will not only result in the development of a massive US offshore wind farm for the northeast, but will yield immediate local benefits such as jobs and cost savings. Specifically, Bay State Wind announced this week that it had signed an agreement with international steel pipe manufacturer EEW to create a Massachusetts manufacturing facility to make offshore wind components, and to be the beginning of a North East offshore wind manufacturing chain.

Additionally, Bay State Wind has also proposed this week to build Connecticut’s first offshore wind farm, the 200 MW Constitution Wind project, which would be located within the same offshore lease area as the 800 MW Bay State Wind, but serve Connecticut instead of Massachusetts.

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Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket!
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